Bowl Alliance Head Still Backs System

Southeastern Conference commissioner Roy Kramer says the expanded Bowl Alliance being assembled would work better than any playoff system to determine a true college football champion.

The Bowl Alliance, which was supposed to produce a true title game, pitted No. 1 Florida State against No. 3 Florida in the Sugar Bowl last season. No. 2 Arizona State met No. 4 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and when the two higher-ranked teams lost, Florida was voted national champion.

Kramer, who heads the Bowl Alliance, has repeatedly rejected the idea of a playoff and said he was optimistic that the new four-bowl Super Alliance, which will include the Rose Bowl beginning with the 1998 season, will produce a true national champion.

Track and Field

U.S. officials will accept suspended runner Mary Slaney’s entry into this week’s national championships at Indianapolis, meet director Duffy Mahoney said. But the American federation would not say whether it would defy the IAAF’s suspension of the U.S. star and permit her to run in the world championships qualifier that begins Wednesday.

Slaney and two other U.S. athletes were suspended by the IAAF last week pending the outcome of U.S. hearings into alleged doping cases.

College Basketball

The University of Arkansas men’s basketball program and Coach Nolan Richardson will find out today about any penalties for NCAA violations. Speculation about the penalties has ranged from probation to a postseason ban to a loss of television revenue to lost scholarships to a slap on the hand.

On Nov. 26, Arkansas announced it had received a letter of inquiry from the NCAA. The 13-page letter outlined seven alleged violations, including an accusation that the program had operated without appropriate institutional control.

Brigham Young, California, Indiana and San Francisco will play in the inaugural Pete Newell Challenge in December at the newly renovated Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Tennis

David Prinosil, a German ranked 48th in the world, was leading second-seeded Thomas Muster, 6-3, 0-1, when he broke his foot sliding on the grass courts during the first round of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle Germany. Prinosil will be sidelined two months. . . . Top-seeded Alberto Berasategui of Spain defeated Austria’s Gilbert Schaller, 6-1, 6-1, in the first round of the Carisbo International clay-court tennis tournament at Bologna, Italy.

Miscellany

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp has been charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession after Tampa police found 12.7 grams of marijuana in his 1995 Mercedes when he was pulled over Saturday.

The Lakers exercised an option to acquire the New York Knicks’ second-round pick in this month’s NBA draft. The pick is No. 53 overall.

Tiger Woods has signed a three-year deal with Golf Digest to contribute monthly instruction articles to the magazine, beginning with the current June issue. . . . The Kansas City Chiefs announced the signing of wide receiver Brett Perriman, safety Kevin Ross and offensive lineman Ralph Tamm. All three free agents signed two-year contracts. The Chiefs also released safety Brian Washington.